6. Chapter 6

The Two Demon Pets

The wolf landed on a mountain close to where they were. Jess got off his back reluctantly, since she enjoyed the feeling of his fur. She moved to one of the larger rocks and used it as a seat while she waited for him to talk.

"What exactly do you mean?" he asked her, Jess preparing for a long explanation.

"The one who created this blade was the first wielder. She was an expert blacksmith, specializing in crafting weapons with the souls of Demons inside of them. Many believe she made the blade in order to protect a Demon she met, but that's not right. The reason behind the creating of this deadly weapon was to protect her home. A bloodthirsty dragon nearly destroyed the village she lived in, and she sealed its soul inside a crystal. And used that to transfer it into this blade," she started as she held her sheathed blade up. "Don't ask how she got the soul in the crystal to being with. No one knows anymore,"

"What happened to the crystal it was in?" he asked, Jess thinking for a bit.

"From what I understand, the crystals she used usually broke once she removed the soul that was inside of them. But in this case, it didn't It changed and looked like the Demon dragon that was sealed inside it," she explained. The wolf walked closer to her, gesturing towards her chest.

"Is that a piece of it?" She looked down and noticed that he was talking about her necklace. She took it in her hand and gave him a nod.

"Yeah. When the first wielder committed suicide, the crystal broke into several pieces. No one has been able to find all of the pieces so far, though," she briefly explained. "Anyway, going back to the dragon, she wasn't too happy about being used to protect another Demon. Especially because she was killed by the one protecting him. She thought it was hypocritical of her. So she messed enough with her head to the point where she took her own life. So in a way, the dragon was the reason behind hers, and the other wielders sudden deaths," The wolf let out a small growl once she stopped.

"Then, will the same happen to you?" She shook her head, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Most likely not. The others saw the weapons as a dead thing they could use to kill. I sensed something inside of it from the start, so I knew something was alive in this. Hence why I treated it as such," The wolf laid down, probably tired from standing so long. "The Demons don't know about it, though. So far, it's just me. Not even Sesshomaru knows, though I did almost told him. But he said he wanted to figure out himself,"

"What is the name of the dragon? And why were the other wielders unable to sense her like you did?" he asked, Jess answering his first question before the other.

"Her name is Flarenix. As for the reason why the others didn't know about her is that they were too trusting of what they had been told about the blade to even notice anything," she explained.

"Flarenix? The name sounds more fitting for a phoenix than a dragon," he commented, Jess unable to contain a laugh from it.

"She is a dragon, though I suppose her wings are feathers, making them look like the wings of a phoenix. And she is immortal, being reborn in the same manner of a phoenix," she summarized for herself, hearing a slight chuckle from her new partner.

"You seem quite knowledgeable about the blade and the Demon that resides inside of it," he told her, Jess smiling a bit.

"Yeah, just about anyway. I can't say I know everything about her," She looked up towards the sky as she continued. "But I know why she attacked that village in the first place," The wolf looked at her with a confused expression. "She used to be a village's protector. She was treated like a God by the Humans. Sometime after arriving there, a dark aura surrounded it and threatened to kill every Human living there. She was able to defeat whatever it was that caused it, but was injured badly. The Humans lost faith in her ability to protect them and left her for dead," she started, feeling a bit angry as she told the story. "Consumed by rage and hatred, she destroyed the entire village and everyone who lived there. She also started attack other places that were similar to it, unable to really see reason anymore. And the first wielder stopped her from destroying her home, but wasn't aware of the reason before the day she ended her life,"

"It seems this dragon has a very valid reason for despising Humans," he added, Jess nodding before she continued.

"Her goal after being sealed in The Blade of Demons, she tried to kill every wielder after the first. Over time, her anger and hatred for Humans slowly faded, and was more or less gone by the time Kagure. She had more or less forgiven them, but wasn't pleased with how Kagure worked. Going against orders of the one she was meant to serve, despite knowing full well what the wielder of the blade was supposed to do. Hence why she made her the last victim in a way. Although she wasn't expecting a new wielder after such little time had passed. And since I'm different to Kagure, I doubt she'll be the reason for my death when it comes," she finally finished her explanation, feeling a bit glad she got it all out right away. The wolf also seemed tired after the long talk.

"I understand now. Although, I believe we should be heading off. Your Master must be wondering why you have not returned after so long," he said, Jess looking up to the sky. The sun was setting, a color similar to fire covering the sky. A warm breeze blew towards her, carrying with it an odd scent. She looked in the direction it came from, trying to identify the source of the scent. To no avail. The wolf started smelling the air as well, Jess knowing that his scent was better than her since he was a type of canine. "Smells like a pack of wolves, though not too many of them. They seem to be carrying the scent of blood along with them, most likely from a fight with something threatening their territory. But there is the scent of a Demon near them," he explained, Jess walking over to the edge of the cliff.

As he had said, there was a small pack of wolves walking on a trail beneath them. And there was a Human like person walking in the center of them, although his ears were pointy and he had a tail attached to him. He seemed to be making sure that the wind was blowing a certain direction, probably so he could notice if something was following them. He was carrying a sword, although it seemed unnecessary considering he had rather sharp nails that reminded her of claws. He almost seemed like the leader of the pack, Jess assuming he was the Demon the wolf mentioned before. He went in front of the pack and started talking, Jess narrowing her eyes so she could focus on reading his lips. Something Sesshomaru had taught her.

"Scout the area, there's an odd scent around here," he ordered, adding something afterwards. "And don't slack off, you got it?" The wolves didn't waste a second and split into two groups, one going back the way they came and the other going further up.

"What is our move?" he asked, Jess thinking for a bit. She noticed a faint glow from his legs and on his right arm. She didn't recognize it right away, but had an inkling of what it could be. She stood up and tried to figure out the best way to get down there safely.

"Stay here, I need to check something," she ordered, working her way down without waiting for a response. She got down rather fast, ending up behind the Demon. He turned around faster than she expected, assuming he had the same senses as a wolf.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked coldly, not allowing her to answer before he spoke again. "Get out of here if you want to keep living," Jess ignored his threat and walked a bit closer to him. Although made sure she didn't get too close.

"Who I am doesn't matter. And I don't take orders from the likes of you," she answered, a growl escaping him. He moved his eyes up and down, studying her she assumed. And his gaze suddenly stopped when he noticed something, Jess not sure what had caught his attention.

"So, you're the new wielder. You seem kind of young to be controlling that amount of power, however," he said, Jess understanding what he had noticed now; The Blade of Demon. She narrowed her eyes at him, but was interrupted before she could talk. A loud roar echoed in her ears, making her turn in the direction of the sound. The Demon's wolves started running back to him, ignoring her entirely. "What's up with you guys? Did you find something?" he asked, Jess not bothering with him anymore. She quickly started running towards the sound of the roar, hearing her new partner running behind her.

She arrived at the source of the sound, a large, scorpion Demon rampaging around the area. Without hesitation, Jess draw her blade and slashed the air, sending a tidal wave of fire towards the creature. As the flame contacted it, it roared in pain. It turned to ash soon after, Jess sheathing her blade. She let out a sigh, honestly disappointed by how weak it was.

"We should get going now. We've really been gone for too long. And my Master's going to wonder where I got to," she said as she turned to the wolf. She climbed on his back and he took to the air without hesitation.

InuYasha and the rest sat next to a river, enjoying some of the food Kagome had brought from her own time. They were certainly enjoying the food, though both Sango and Miroku felt uneasy. There were blood stains on the rocks near them and the river, showing signs of a fight. Although there wasn't any bodies around here, and if there had been something dead here, InuYasha would've smelled it before. Then again, he seemed a bit too entranced in his food to care, and Kagome seemed a bit out of it as well.

"So, where's our next destination?" Miroku asked as an attempt to ease his uneasiness, InuYasha finally taking his attention off the food.

"Wherever there's a Jewel Shard, where else?" he answered, Sango looking around the area a bit more.

"There should be a village if we follow this river downstream. Maybe they know something about the shards," she suggested, Kagome agreeing with her as she finished her last rice ball. Shippo also stuffed the rest of his food before he jumped on his shoulder, Kiara going over to Sango. The small fox sniffed the air a bit, trying to find a scent.

"There's Human over that way. So the village must not be that far from here," he stated, everyone following the river downstream. It didn't take long before they saw some Humans by the river, fishing form the looks of it. Miroku walked ahead of them to greet them.

"Excuse me, may I ask you something?" he asked, rather respectfully as well. One of them looked at him and gave him a nod, Miroku bowing in thanks. "Has there been any recent attacks in this area? Or something unusual?" The man thought for a bit before he answered him.

"There have been more Demons around our village as of late, and our leader won't do anything about it or give us an explanation," he explained. "And our food supply is getting lower by each day, since we've never had to go fishing as often as we have recently. But even what we catch isn't enough nowadays," Miroku kept nodding as he talked, showing him that he was paying attention.

"Is there any specific place they seemed to be trying to get to in the village?" he asked, the man next to the other answering this time.

"Yeah, where the leader lives. He must've brought with him something they want from one of his trips. But it's impossible to say. He hasn't actually shown himself lately," he answered, Miroku slightly narrowing his eyes.

"Was there anything odd with any of the items he brought back? Or were you unable so actually see him arrive?" he questioned, both of them shaking their heads.

"No, he came back late at night, so there was no one who could see him return. Or the items he brought with him. He was being incredibly quiet, though, since his cart usually makes so much noise that anyone would wake from it," the first man said, Miroku once again bowing in gratitude.

"Thank you for your time," he said before walking back to the rest of the group.

"Well?" InuYasha asked impatiently, Miroku looking at him.

"There have been attacks from Demon here, but they don't know what they seemed to be after. They believe their leader has brought something into their village while out on one of his trips that they might be after. It might be connected to the Sacred Jewel Shards," he summarized. "However, it could just as well be something connected to the wielder of The Blade of Demons. Not only that, but if it is one of the Shards, Sesshomaru might have become interested in them," Kagome narrowed her eyes when he added the last part.

"So what?" she started, the others looking surprised at her. "We just have to go and see for ourselves. If it has something to do with her, we'll leave it alone. It's a piece of the Sacred Jewel, it's ours," she pointed out, Sango agreeing with her.

"In any case, standing here won't do any good. Why don't we start heading for the village?" she suggested, all of them agreeing with her. They started heading for said village, Kagome thinking back to Jess again. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere chasing after her, but she still wanted her to see her as a friend. She shook her head once the thought had crossed her mind. She knew that Jess didn't see it that way, all she cared about was doing what Sesshomaru wanted her to do. So if there ever came a time that he ordered her to kill them, she would do it in a heartbeat. Which scared Kagome the most.

She let out a sigh and continued walking behind the others, trying to focus her mind on the village and how it would be like. Also trying to think of a way to see their leader and get the Jewel Shard if he had it. All she knew was that it wouldn't be easy. Nothing is ever easy on this era she's noticed. And if something was easy, it was a trap or something.

They arrived at the village soon after that, nothing unusual catching their eye. Aside from the fact that the villagers seemed afraid of outsiders. They proceeded slowly, no one the residents getting close to them. InuYasha looked over at a group of them, their eyes completely overwhelmed by fear. So what they heard about from those fishers was true. He diverted his eyes from them in an attempt to not scare them more than they already are. They headed towards the large temple at the end of the village, assuming that was where the leader was living. As they walked up the stairs, the amount of guards in front of the gate surprised them. And made them more suspicious of what's going on. The one dressed like a Commander walked in front of them.

"Hold it. Who are you and what business do you have here?" he asked them, holding his spear close to his side. Most likely to fight back if they tried to force themselves in. Miroku stepped forward and tried to seem as unthreatening as he could.

"We have been informed that this village has been under the torment of Demons, and we have arrived to defeat them. May he speak with the leader of this village?" he asked, trying to sound like someone had gone and asked them to come here. However, the Commander didn't seem like he was going to move out of their way.

"No one is allowed to see him at the moment. Please go down to the village and we'll inform him about your cause," he said, Miroku nodding and bowing to him before he and the rest walked down with him. They moved towards a open field outside of the village so they wouldn't cause any trouble for the villagers.

"Now what? The chances of him actually accepting out help are slim. He hasn't done anything about it so far, so why should he now?" InuYasha pointed out, Kagome trying to think of something.

"And I don't think it'll be smart to just storm the temple. We would get caught immediately with so many guards, and the villagers will lose what little faith they have in us. We need to make sure it is the Jewel Shard that these Demons are being attracted to," Miroku added, Sango petting Kirara's head as she listened. InuYasha let out a large sigh, looking over at Kagome. She was completely engrossed in her thoughts, not paying attention to their conversation from the looks of it.

"What's the matter? Did you feel a Shard or something up there?" he asked, Kagome not answering right away. Almost as if she was trying to figure it out for herself.

"Not 'did I feel', I can still feel it," she said, Shippo moving to her lap. "It has a stronger presence than the other Shards. And it has definitely been used by someone. Maybe that Emperor," she explained, a huge explosion cutting their conversation short. They all looked in the direction of the sound, seeing the temple on fire, a large cloud of smoke rising to the sky.

"What the hell is going on?" InuYasha said before jumping high into a tree. He tried to get a good view of what was going on, but all he could see were the people panicking and the guards getting thrown like rag dolls. "Damn it, I can't see good enough from here," He looked down before he continued. "We need to get over there to figure out what's going on!" he yelled to the others, Miroku giving him a quick nod before he looked at Sango and Kagome, Shippo and Kirara on their shoulders.

"Kagome, you come into the temple so we can find the Shard. Sango, you, Shippo and Kirara go and make sure the villagers are safe and calm them down," he ordered, both of them nodding. They ran towards the village, InuYasha going ahead of them waiting at the top of the staircase for Miroku and Kagome. The first thing he saw was the person causing the commotion, Kagome gasping.

"Wait, isn't that…?" she didn't finish, InuYasha already recognizing her scent. Once the smoke cleared away a little, they could clearly saw Jess standing there, just sheathing her blade from the looks of it. She wore her cloak again, so they couldn't clearly see her face. But they recognized her nonetheless.

"Incredible. She defeated them so fast single handedly," Miroku commented, Jess slightly moving her head so they could see her eyes.

"Hurry up and get that Shard already. I don't really want to keep helping you," she ordered, InuYasha glaring at her.

"Why are you helping us in the first place, anyway?" he asked, surprised there was no changes in her expression as she answered.

"Don't worry, I'm just following orders. I don't know why he wanted me to assist you, I just do what I'm told," she answered, turning her back to them and jumped down the left side of the temple that lead to a forest. They hesitated for a bit, but quickly ran into the temple and found where the leader was staying at the moment. As soon as they stepped in the room, Kagome could clearly feel the Jewel Shard in the room. She went over to some of the boxes in the corner of the room, finding one box with millions of different jewels and gems inside of it.

"Wow, that's a lot," she commented as she started digging in it. It was in there, that much she knew. But it would've been rather small compared to the other gems in there. Miroku and InuYasha looked around elsewhere in the room, as well as making sure no one came in. "Found it!" Kagome said finally, holding the small Shard in her hand. She got up and walked next to the boys as they made their way out of the temple. However, a very rich looking man stood in their way, all of them assuming that this was the leader. InuYasha caught the scent of a Demon near them, going in front of the other two. He noticed the empty eyes of the Human, glaring at him. Miroku noticed his change in behavior, noticing the same thing he did. He moved a bit forward and pointed his staff at it.

"Alright, Demon. Leave that man's body right now," he ordered, Kagome feeling a bit scared and stayed close to InuYasha's back.

"Make me," a weak yet sinister voice came out from the man, Miroku holding onto the beads around his arm. InuYasha backed up along with Kagome, the man walked closer rather unbalanced. "I want the Demon pet," he gasped out. "Give her to me, and I will leave you be," The voice was constantly changing, Miroku believing the man was fighting against it.

"Demon pet? Is he referring to that Human following Sesshomaru?" InuYasha asking, Kagome confirming it. "Sorry pal, you're asking the wrong people if that's the case. We've got nothing to do with her," he told her, the man smirking unnaturally.

"Then you can give me the Sacred Jewel Shards you have," the voice was only the Demon this time, Miroku thinking the Human had given up. Kagome quietly prepared a bow behind InuYasha while he held the hilt of his Tessaiga.

"Not a chance. We're keeping these Shards," he taunted, the man laughing crazily as a response.

"We'll just have to wait and see!" he yelled, a dark aura surrounding him.